Problem Old Seed, Poor Germination.

[Ras Mountain]

Hey y'all, it's been a while. I'm getting into the hobby again but all my seed is 3-5 years old and I'm having a damn hard time sprouting anything. Did I completely fuck up my seeds by storing them improperly? They're kept in airtight tubes but the temperature swings dramatically in my house over time.

Anyway my experience is this: seed germination is significantly reduced and the ones that do pop, seem unable to utilize Oxygen properly and end up dying subsequently from damping off or 'overwatering' even though I'm doing everything a healthy sprout needs to get a strong start...

Am I better off just securing fresh seed and starting over? Can I not recover stressed or damaged seed reliably?

 

[Joheim]

There are chems you can apply that can help with germination, specifically gibberllic acid. Regrettably, I am not aware of what products you have available so I can't direct you where to find some. But I've heard as much as a 30% increase in successful germination.

This is just hear say, so I have no citation, just what I remember reading on another forum.

 

[Ras Mountain]

I'm considering going that route. It might be a fungal issue also, as the soil I used wasn't properly composted and is mostly just aged horse manure and sawdust.

So, fixing the soil structure and ten minutes in the microwave (sterilization) might save some headache. Also, maybe soak the pots and trays in a weak bleach solution. If that fails, these seeds must be cooked.